Mileage-ticket and cover therefor



M. WRIGHT. MILEAGE TICKET A-ND COVER THEREFOR.

Sheets-Sheet 1.

,(No Model.)

No. 595,423. Patented Dec. 14,1897,

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( No Model.)

H. M; WRIGHT. MILEAGE TIGKET AND COVER THEREFOR. N0; 595,42-3.'

Patented Dec. 14, 1897.

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I UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HUGH M. WRIGHT, on RAVENNA, OHIO.

MILEAGE-TICKET AND COVER THEREFOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 595,423, dated December 14, 1897.

Application filed July 8, 1896. Serial No. 598,384. (No model.) 7

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HUGH M. WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ravenna, in the county of Portage and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mileage-Tickets and Covers Therefor, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in mileage-tickets and covers therefor, and has for its object to form such a ticket and cover as to greatly facilitate the calculation of the conductor of the length to be torn from the ticket corresponding to the number of miles to be ridden by the passenger and also to facilitate the auditing of the piece detached to prevent fraud in use and to facilitate and perfect the tearing off of the mileage.

' With these ends in view this invention consists in thedetails of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth, and then specifically designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains may understand how to make and use the same, I will describe its construction and operation in detail, referring to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective of the covers in their closed position, showing the bindingstrips, by means of which a given length of the ticket is torn from the main body thereof; Fig. 2, an edge view thereof; Fig.3, a perspective of the strip over which the ticket is torn, and Fig. 4 a view of a portion of the ticket printed in accordance with myimprovement.

In carrying out my invention I provide the covers A and B, which are secured together at O in any well-known manner, and the cover A is of somewhat less length than the cover B and is provided at its outer edge with the rigid strip D, having a ledge E formed thereon, so that when it is secured in place upon the cover A this ledge bears against the cover B in such manner as to form a straight edge, whereby the ticket is gripped in order that the protruding length may be torn therefrom. This strip may be secured to the cover A in any suitable manner, here shown as being held thereto by the passage of the tongues F through suitable openings in said cover.

The ticket G, which will next be described, is secured within the covers in any suitable manner, preferably by pasting the last end thereof near the upper edge of the cover B and then folding it back and forth upon itself within the covers in such lengths as to permit the cover A to close thereon, thus holding it in place. By this arrangement any given length may be torn from the main body of the ticket by drawing that length forward without the covers and forcing the inner edge of the ledge E against the ticket by grasping the outer edges of the covers and then tearing off the protruding lengths. The face of the ticket is divided into ten longitudinal spaces by eleven lines running lengthwise of said ticket, and these spaces are subdivided by a series of lines running at right angles to the first-named lines, thereby producing a number of squares, and each vertical column of these squares is numbered consecutively from 0 to any desired number in one direction by a series of figures H and in the opposite direction from I 1 to any desired number by the series of figures I, the former starting from the outer end of the ticket and proceeding inwardly,

while the latter start from the inner end of the ticket and proceed outwardly.

The series of figures I-I are forde'termining the number of squares torn from the ticket and therefore the number of miles traveled by the passenger, while the series of figures I are for indicating how many squares in each of the longitudinal spaces remain upon the ticket and therefore how many miles yet to be traveled.

A double-width or heavy line J is placed to correspond with every hundred of the squares lengthwise, and the figure next adjacent this line is in heavy-faced type in order that it may be easily distinguished, and placed next adjacent this line in the margin of the ticket is an arbitrary sign K, which corresponds to the number of that line, and also the words Punch cover are located in proximityto this line and sign forthe purpose of calling the attention of the conductor to the fact that i he must punch the corresponding sign in the cover to prevent the fraudulent use of said cover, and for this purpose a series of arbitrary signs corresponding with the signs upon the ticket and ten in number, each different from the other, is printed upon the cover, as indicated at L, so that after one hundred miles of the ticket have been used the conductor punches the sign which corresponds thereto in the cover, and when two hundred miles have been used the next sign is punched, and so on until the whole of the ticket has been used, which will effectually prevent the fraudulent use of this cover for the holding of another ticket.

Starting from the inner end of the ticket the squares in the upper space are numbered lengthwise thereof from l to 9, and the letter A then occupies the square which would otherwise be marked 10, and the figures again start at 1 and run to 9, when the letter A is again placed in the tenth square, and so on throughout the entire length of the ticket, amounting to any number of squares numbered in the series of 1 to 10, each tenth one being designated by the letter A.

The inner column of squares is numbered downward from 1 to O, the lower square of said column being designated by the letter J, and the remaining squares in each space are numbered, starting from the number in the first column and proceeding consecutively toward the outer end of the ticket, in the series of tens, the tenth square in every series being designated by B, O, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J in accordance with the space in which the squares fallas, for instance, the squares in the space next below the top space will start to be numbered with 2 and run to 9, when the next square will be designated by B, after which the squares will be numbered from 1 to 9 and the next square designated by B, and so on throughout the entire length of that space. The squares in the next line below will start with and be numbered to 9, when the next square thereafter will be designated by C, after which the squares are designated from 1 to 9, having a located upon the tenth square throughout the entire space, and so on to the bottom of the columns. The result of this method of numbering and designating the squares by figures and letters will be that the letters from A to J will fall within the spaces diagonally, so that each letter next below will be one space nearer the beginning of the ticket than the letter next above, and this will also cause the numbers to fall likewise, so that any point within the ticket where a 1 is in the upper space 2 will be next below, 3 below that, and so on to 9,

. when the letter J will designate the tenth square in the column.

From this description the method of using a ticket will he obviously as follows: The number of miles to he traveled by the passenger being ascertained, the conductor selects a figure in the outer column of the ticket, which corresponds to the fractional number of miles under ten, and running his eye along the space in which this figure is located notes the letter therein, after which the number of miles in tens are selected by the number of corresponding letters takcn. For example, supposing that the passenger is to travel twentythree miles, the conductor selects the space in which3appearsin the outer column,asillustrated on the largest fragment of the ticket shown, and after noting that this space is designated by J has only to select two Js and tearthe ticket just short of the third J, thus without calculation removing twentythree squares from said ticket; or, again, supposing that the passenger is to travel fortynine miles, the space in which the 9 in the outer column falls is selected, when it is noted that the letter F designates this space, after which enough of this ticket is drawn from between the covers to bring the fourth F to the tearing edge, when by severing the protruding length it will be found that fortynine squares. counting lengthwise of the ticket, have been removed. This arrangement enables the conductor with facility to compute, select, and tear from the ticket the number of miles to be traveled by the passenger and requires no effort upon the part of the conductor and therefore precludes the possibility of error. One or the other of these series of numbers H may be used as a bag gage-check or may be punched by the baggage-master to correspond to the number of miles to be traveled by the passenger, or the margin of the ticket may be torn therefrom, so as to correspond with the number which would otherwise be punched. If desired, each tenth number in the series ll and I may be printed with full-faced type in order to further facilitate the selecting of the figures by tens. It is obvious that a ticket made in accordance with my improvement may be used for other purposes than railway-service, and I therefore do not wish to limit myself to this particular use.

I My improved ticket is not only advantageous in assisting the conductor to determine the number of miles to be torn therefrom, but is also of great assistance in auditing the various sections torn from the ticket, which may be accomplished by selecting the space upon the torn section designated by 1 in thelefthand column of squares and noting the figure at the extreme right-hand end of this space, which will be the number of miles represented by the section of the ticket if below ten, and if above ten the number of tens will be indicated by the number of letters appearing in this space, the units being determined by the extreme right-hand figure therein, and as a further means of facilitating the auditing of these lengths conductors may be required to punch the number of miles each torn-01f length indicates, and as there are the right numbers in each torn section to correspond to the number. of miles which the section represents it is obvious that the conductor has only to punch the squares on which these numbers are located to make it possible to determine the value of the torn-01f section at a glance-as, for instance, if a section of the ticket has been torn off representing thirteen miles this may be indicated by the conductor punching a square indicated by 1 and another square to the right designated by 3. This will also put a check upon the conductor punching the ticket, in that if he be required to punch the cover upon the arbitrary signs which represent from 100 upward and if he fails to do so the auditor can determine this neglect by referring to that section of the ticket in which this conductors punch appears.

Having thus fully described this invention, what I claim as new and useful is 1. A ticket consisting of a strip of suitable material having longitudinal lines inscribed thereon so as to form ten spaces, said spaces being divided into squares by cross-lines, said squares being designated by numbers and letters, as described, the columns of squares being designated from O, to any number in one direction and from 1, to anynumber in' the opposite direction, lines of greater width than those forming the squares so located as to determine every hundred squares lengthwise of the ticket and arbitrary signs placed at intervals along the strip in combination with a cover in which the ticket is secured having similar arbitrary signs placed thereon, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a device of the character described, a ticket consisting of a strip of suitable mate rial having inscribed thereon longitudinal lines so as to form ten spaces, vertical lines 'dividin g said spaces into squares said squares of each space being designated in series from 1 to 9,- each tenth square being designated by a letter or arbitrary sign, the same sign being used throughout each space, but no two spaces using the same sign, the numbers in each vertical column starting from the number of the upper square in that column and proceeding downwardly consecutively, the vertical columns being designated in the margin from 0 to any number on one side in one direction and from 1 to any number on the margin of the other side in the opposite direction,vertical lines of greater Width than those forming the squares so located as to determine every hundred squares lengthwise of the ticket, arbitrary signs placed at intervals along the strip in combination with a cover in which said ticket is secured, composed of two sections secured together so as to open and close, an angular strip secured on the end of one section and adapted to be pressed against the end of the other, said cover having a series of arbitrary signs similar to those on the strip, as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HUGH M. WRIGHT.

Witnesses:

S. S. WILLIAMSON, MARK BUFORD. 

